The adult life in it Autism spectrumbefore justice and human rights they become ghoststrampled speeches that reach neither the damp walls nor the fragile ceilings of those who survive in silence.
As the year slows down and nears its end, so does social patience. The challenges faced by adults with different disabilities are more visible. There are many people living in these outlying areas who are often dismissed because they do not have another condition related to autism, but because they are simply autistic or Asperger’s. Because autism is not just childhood and therapies, It’s adulthood, the loneliness, the lack of access to a job; It is a whole path that remains latentalthough there are no longer any interventions, no professionals to take notes, not even the homes where people used to live to support themselves.
Today I would like to bring one of these experiences with me. One of those that multiply in our country with the hope that the quality of life of each individual will improve or at least that in adulthood we will not be discarded by society as if we were disposable fashion.
A story that touched me and perhaps touched something in you, that of Elizabeth Moreno, a 57-year-old autistic woman, The diagnosis was only made four years ago by Dr. Alexia Rattazzi diagnosed thanks to a grant from the NGO PANAACEA (Argentine Program for Children, Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders). Elizabeth told me this with humble relief: it was the first time anyone had sat down to listen to her, without haste, without underestimating her, without that look that sought to correct rather than understand.
Elizabeth She lives alone with Alan, her 27-year-old son, who is also autistic. He visits the Jose C. Paz National University (UNPAZ)second year of video game development and production. She says she is the only one Institution that has preserved it as it is, with the necessary support to move forward. Elizabeth’s face lights up when she talks about him; He watches him learn like someone watching a lingering flame in the middle of his own desert.
Life took a break. They lived in a rented apartment until her husband left, It leaves her alone with her children and unable to pay the rent. The only alternative was his maternal grandparents’ house. An old construction that became a trap over time: there is no water. It’s not a metaphor. There is no water.
They collect it from the rain when they can, and when not, they go with containers to neighbors’ houses who give them what they can. They buy dispenser bottles to drink if they have the money.
He tried to get a new piercing, got into debt, and it didn’t work.
He The bathroom is a latrine. A scene that anyone could have placed centuries ago, but which is happening in the world today Suburbs of Buenos Aires.
The house has electricity and internet service, which he installed so Alan could study. This gesture is Elizabeth, someone who supports her even when almost nothing supports her.
TShe worked as a home health aide her whole life until an autoimmune disease forced her to stop.. Still, she insists she could go back to work if she could find a position where she could sit. “I don’t want to give up,” she repeats, even if the concrete facts don’t support her. His only income – he tells me – is a non-contributory pension that amounts to about $270,000..
He asked for help in his district. He says technicians and experts came to inspect the house and told him it was in danger of collapsing. Every storm is a test of faith. Elizabeth isn’t sleeping, she’s listening to the blanket vibrate, calculating where it might give way and praying it doesn’t fall on her.
What you are asking for is nothing extraordinary but a decent home. Water, a bathroom, a solid roof. A place from which you can resume life and work. This last word, so desired by those of us who make up this community and which I will insist on again and again: 80% are unemployed—. We talk about basic human rights; In order to live, an income that allows survival is more urgent than the loneliness that surrounds this community.
Elizabeth says she sometimes has a hard time getting out of bed. That he has no friends. That she’s not used to anyone listening to her. That’s maybeThe reality of the vast majority of autistic people: not being heard.
“There’s a lot of talk about inclusion,” she tells me, “but I feel let down.”
Perhaps this is also where inclusion begins, by focusing directly on those who live withoutEven in adulthood, clinging to the simple illusion that life can get a little better, although no one comes to accompany them. To boost the country’s economy, it is necessary to live with all disabilities, including high-functioning autistic people, who are painfully aware of the reality we are living through.
Eradicating poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. Nelson Mandela.
For those who would like to help, these are your contacts:
- Instagram: @elizabethmyriamoreno
- Email: avefenix170368@gmail.com
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